Police seek man who reportedly tried to take young boy from Pekin restaurant

PEKIN — Pekin police are asking for the public’s help in finding a man who reportedly tried to take a 6-year-old boy from a fast-food restaurant and away from his mother Sunday morning.

In a news release Sunday evening, police described the man as a person of interest they want to speak with about the incident. He was driving a red 2008 Ford Ranger pickup truck with Iowa license plate 400YYG.

According to the release, a mother and three young children were eating Sunday morning at Hardee’s at 105 N. Fifth St. when a man they did not know spoke with the children and pulled up a chair at the table.

He finally left the restaurant, but when the mother took one of the children into the restroom, he reappeared. He once again spoke with a 6-year-old boy and convinced him to walk outside the restaurant with him, police said.

Three males inside the restaurant were disturbed by what was happening. They confronted the man as he was walking out of the restaurant with the boy. The mother came out of the bathroom and was reunited with her child, and the man left in the pickup, police said.

One of the males who stopped the child from leaving the restaurant was able to take a picture of the man and the pickup. The truck belongs to Thomas R. Anthony of Dubuque, Iowa. He has a valid warrant for his arrest in Henry County, unrelated to this event, police said.

Pekin police are urging people in Pekin and surrounding communities to watch for the man and the pickup. Anyone who sees them is asked to call police immediately. Pekin police should be called at 346-3132.